Important Definitions
An Abstract is a summary of an article or other work and cannot be used as if it were the full text. You should not reference or cite an abstract in a paper or presentation, but instead find the full text.
In an Annotated Bibliography, each citation is followed by a brief note—or annotation—that describes and/or evaluates the source and the information found in it.
A Bibliography is an organized list of citations.
A Citation reflects all of the information a person would need to locate a particular source. For example, basic citation information for a book consists of name(s) of author(s) or editor(s), title of the book, name of publisher, place of publication, and most recent copyright date.
A Citation Style dictates the information necessary for a citation and how the information is ordered, as well as punctuation and other formatting.
A Works Cited (MLA style) or References (APA style) list presents citations for those sources referenced or cited in a particular paper, presentation, or other composition.
Why Cite Your Sources?
Why do you need to cite the sources you use for your papers?
1. Your instructors expect you to read about the research of others, and to bring together their ideas in such a way that makes sense to you and will make sense to your readers. Therefore, it's essential for you to cite your sources in any research paper you write. The academic reasons for doing so are to give credit to those who have done the original research and written the article or book, and to allow readers (your instructors) to look at them if needed to find out if you have properly understood what the author was trying to say.
2. On a practical level, citing your sources is a way to show that you've done the assignment. If your paper contains no citations, the implication is that you have done a piece of original research, but that probably was not the assignment. Citations (along with the bibliography) show that you have consulted a variety of resources as the assignment required. They're also an acknowledgement of your indebtedness to those authors.
3. So don't feel you need to hide the fact that you're drawing from one of your sources. That's what it's all about.
There are quite a few different ways to cite resources in your paper. The citation style sometimes depends on the academic discipline involved. For example:
American Medical Association (AMA) style is used in Health, Biological Sciences and Medicine.
Modern Language Association (MLA) style is used in the Arts and Humanities.
American Psychological Association (APA) is used in Education, Social Sciences and and Sciences.
Manuals for the AMA, APA and MLA Citation Styles are on Reserve and available at the Circulation Desk.
What you will need to create citations
When you are collecting references for your research paper remember to record what is needed for you citation. Some databases will provide the citation for you when you email the article. However, you should remember to at least jot down the basic information so you can find it again in case something gets lost.
Books or Chapters:
- Author: full name(s) of the author(s) or editor(s).
- Title: Full Title of the book and/or chapter of the book.
- Publication: City, State, Year (latest copyright date), and name of the Publisher.
- Edition: if there is one listed.
- Pages: if noted, referenced in the paper, or chapter of a book.
Periodical or Magazine Articles:
- Author: full name(s) of the author(s).
- Title: Full Title of the Article.
- Title: Full Title of the Magazine or Journal.
- Publication: Day Month, Year (Magazine). Volume, Issue, and year (Journal)
- Pages: if noted, referenced in the paper, or chapter of a book.
(in addition if accessed from a database or website)
- Website or Database: name of website or databased the article was retrieved.
- Access: where you accessed the database.
- Date: you accessed the information.
- URL: <http:__ >
Newspapers:
- Author: full name(s) of the author(s).
- Title: Full Article Title
- Title: Full title of the newspaper.
- Publication: Day, Month, Year.
- Edition: if there is one listed.
- Pages or section: if noted, referenced in the paper, or chapter of a book.
(in addition if accessed from a database or website)
- Website or Database: name of website or databased the article was retrieved.
- Access: where you accessed the database.
- Date: you accessed the information.
- URL: <http://__ >
Encyclopedias:
- Author: full name(s) of the author(s) if available.
- Title: Full Title of Entry.
- Title: Full Title of the Encyclopedia or Dictionary.
- Publication: Year (latest copyright date)
- Edition: if there is one listed.
(in addition if an e-book or database)
- Website or Database: name of website or databased the entry was retrieved.
- Access: where you accessed the database.
- Date: you accessed the information
- URL: <http://__ >
Websites:
- Author: full name(s) of the author(s) if available.
- Title: Full Title of the content.
- Name of Web page.
- Name of Organizational sponsor (not advertising sponsor).
- Date published or updated.
- Date: Day, Month, Year you accessed.
- URL (complete) <http:// __ >
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